#Kanzee Ebola: Jonathan condemns discrimination against Nigerians Via @iKanzee_RR

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday
condemned the stigmatisation of Nigerians by
some countries over recent cases of Ebola
virus in the country.
Jonathan made this known at a meeting with
Dr David Navarro, the Special Representative
of the United Nations Secretary-General on
Ebola, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
This is contained in a statement issued by the
Special Adviser to the President on Media and
Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati.
The president, according to the statement,
decried discriminatory actions by some
countries against Nigeria, including the
incident which forced Nigeria’s team to the
Youth Olympics in China to abandon its
participation.
He said that there was no justification for
such stigmatisation of Nigerians since the
Ebola Virus had been effectively contained in
the country and never attained epidemic level.
He called for the immediate cessation of every
discriminatory action against Nigerians
around the world over the virus and urged the
UN Secretary General, Mr Ban Ki-Moon, to
support the call.
Acknowledging the secretary-general’s
commendation of Nigeria’s response to the
Ebola outbreak, the president attributed it to
the efforts of the Federal Ministry of Health,
Lagos State Government and citizens.
“All hands have been on deck to contain the
virus here. I commend my team and the Lagos
State Government.
“We have been able to set politics aside and
work in unison to deal with a national threat.
“All other Nigerians have played a part too by
complying with the directives and advice we
have issued to stop the virus from spreading
any further.
“The success we have had is a testimony to
what we can achieve as people if we set aside
our differences and work together,’’ he said.
He assured the UN that the Federal
Government and its agencies would remain
vigilant to guard against further cases of
Ebola in the country.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and
we will also support other affected African
countries as much as we can.
“This is because we cannot be completely safe
from the virus as long as it continues to
ravage some countries in our sub-region and
continent.
“We will continue to work with the
international community to curb the outbreak
in other countries,’’ Jonathan said.
Earlier, Navarro who had visited Liberia,
Guinea and Sierra Leone, before coming to
Nigeria said he was in Nigeria on the
instruction of the UN Secretary-General to
applaud Nigeria’s successful containment of
the virus.
“The Secretary-General asked me to come here
too, not because you have an Ebola problem,
but because you have tackled it in an
exemplary fashion. Your personal leadership
on the matter has been key.
“There may still be some work to be done
before the virus is completely cleared out from
here, but other countries can learn from your
fine example,’’ he said. (NAN)